With many plant species, butterflies and birds it can be an interesting place for nature study

HYDERABAD: For those who prefer to visit Sanjivaiah Park for its expansive greenery and serenity, there is some good news.

The 30-year-old park spread over an expanse of 80 acres, abutting the Hussainsagar lake is on a refurbishing mode — landscapes getting enhanced with fresh lawns and more tree plantations. The Sanjivaiah Park will retain its refreshingly different image sans commercial recreational activities .

Though few years ago, the BPPA did toy with the idea of developing Sanjivaiah Park into yet another theme and amusement park, it abandoned the idea to let it remain essentially a park after a consultative process with various groups of citizens, including NGOs, environmentalists.

With no big concrete structures to be allowed, the park would continue to remain a lung space in a city that is becoming increasingly a concrete jungle with alarming levels of pollution.

“The idea behind not bringing in too many recreational activities into Sanjivaiah Park is to let it retain its core character on the lines of a nature park,” says HUDA Chairman S.P.Singh who recently inaugurated a unique eight-acre ‘Fragrance Park’ in an extent of eight acres with over a 100 varieties of fragrance emanating plants, trees, shrubs.

The park that had a run-down look not long ago, now sports a well-tended appearance and it would be further nurtured to promotes nature-related education besides enabling one to tune in with nature, practicing yoga and meditation, Mr. Singh says.

With about 125 species of trees, shrubs with labels of genus, species and common names in Telugu and a variety of butterflies and birds, it could be an interesting place for nature study. A unique one of its kind, the water lily (‘kaluva puvvu) pond with as many as 50 varieties procured from different places is a recent addition.

The development activities include laying fresh pathways in place of worn-out ones using natural material, providing more stone benches, adding another toilet complex.

As there was no proper illumination, Sanjivaiah Park all these years remained essentially a day park closing down at 6.30 p.m. The illumination work will be taken up soon, so that the park can be kept open till 10 p.m. to let in more visitors in the evenings, officials say.